3 NPA rebels killed in Compostella Valley

MANILA, Philippines - Three communist rebels were killed Wednesday in an encounter with Army troops in Montevista, Compostela Valley, the military said.

Army reports said the clash ensued at around 9:30 p.m. after members of the 25th Infantry Battalion discovered an abandoned rebel camp in Sitio Tibungco in Barangay Poblacion.

Cpt. Ernest Carolina, spokesman of the Army’s 10th division, said the firefight had lasted for about 10 minutes and had left three insurgents dead. There were no reported fatalities on the side of government troops.

Soldiers recovered a 9 mm pistol and three back packs from the encounter site.

Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command spokesman Cpt. Alberto Caber said members of the New People’s Army (NPA) are conducting extortion activities in the area.

“Civilian residents revealed that the NPA is again back to extort at their communities. They promised to report again to the military if the bandit group surfaces again in their barangay,” Caber said.

Eastern Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III has ordered his troops to resist any effort by the NPA to conduct extortion and harassments.

Compostela Valley is part of the Davao region, an area with huge concentration of communist rebels. – Alexis Romero with Ronald Mendoza